Russia will announce a unilateral ceasefire for 36 hours starting tomorrow at 12 noon local time.

This was reported by the "Interfax" agency, citing a Kremlin statement.

The cessation of hostilities on the Russian side will be lifted at midnight on January 7-8.

Tomorrow and Saturday in Russia and Ukraine, millions of people celebrate Christmas Eve and Christmas according to the old Julian calendar.

The Kremlin is therefore calling on Ukraine to also declare a ceasefire and allow people to attend church services tomorrow night and on Christmas Day.

“In view of the call of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill, I instruct the Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation to establish a ceasefire regime along the entire line of combat contact between the parties in Ukraine from 12:00 on January 6, 2023 until 24:00 on January 7, 2023,” is said in Putin's instructions for a "Christmas Truce in Ukraine."

"Based on the fact that a large number of Orthodox citizens live in the areas of hostilities, we call on the Ukrainian side to announce a ceasefire and provide them with the opportunity to attend Christmas Eve and Nativity services," is added in the text.

Recep Tayyip Erdogan called on Putin in a telephone conversation today for a unilateral ceasefire, the presidency in Ankara announced. In the Russian version of the discussed topics, this element was absent. Later, Erdogan also spoke with Volodymyr Zelensky. The message of the Ukrainian president on his Telegram channel said that they discussed "bilateral cooperation, issues of nuclear safety and in particular at the Zaporizhzhia NPP, where there should not be any invaders, the exchange of prisoners of war with Turkish mediation, the development of the grain deal". It is not clear from the text whether Erdogan also urged Zelensky for a ceasefire.

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